Subject: The Evening CSIS: Vietnam’s Move, Crimea Escalation, Feels Like Rain & More
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2016 22:32:22 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.212205.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening CSIS: Vietnam’s Move, Crimea Escalation, Feels Like Rain & More
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** Good Evening,
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Welcome to
The Evening CSIS—my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day plus HIGHLY RECOMMENDED content from around the world. To subscribe, please sign up here (http://bit.ly/ecs1s) .

** Vietnam Moves Rocket Launchers to South China Sea
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Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, as Reuters’ Greg Torode reported (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-vietnam-idUSKCN10K2NE?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social) in an exclusive today.

Dive Deeper: For CSIS’s latest analysis on the South China Sea, visit our Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative interactive website (https://amti.csis.org/) which yesterday made international news (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/world/asia/china-spratly-islands-south-china-sea.html?_r=0) with satellite photos and analysis which shows three South China Sea islets will soon have hangar space for 24 Chinese fighter-jets plus 3-4 larger planes.

Plus, CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman recently published a new report: Evolving Strategies in the U.S.-China Military Balance (https://www.csis.org/analysis/evolving-strategies-us-china-military-balance) .

** Battered Libya
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Pro-government Libyan militias backed by the US said today that they had seized ISIS’s last stronghold in the country, in the seaside city of Sirte. If confirmed, the capture would be a severe blow to the militant organization’s expansion into North Africa. The
New Yorker’s Frederic Wehrey has this compelling report (http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-grinding-fight-to-root-out-isis-in-a-battered-libya) on what he saw on the ground in Sirte (the coastal hometown of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi) in late July.

Dive Deeper: CFR has an updated “backgrounder (http://www.cfr.org/iraq/islamic-state/p14811) ” on the Islamic State and why it endures.

** Crimea Tensions Escalate
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Vladimir Putin today promised to respond to what he called Kiev’s “terror” tactics in Crimea, raising the stakes as fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels intensifies in the country once again, as Bloomberg’s Stepan Kravchenko and Jake Rudnitsky report (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/putin-warns-ukraine-russia-will-respond-to-terror-in-crimea) .

And the Daily Beast’s Michael Weiss and Pierre Vaux today ask in their report “Is Ukraine Just About to Blow? (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/10/is-ukraine-just-about-to-blow.html) ”

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Olga Oliker and Jeff Mankoff discuss “Nationalism in Russia (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/nationalism-in-russia-russian) ” in episode 9 of their amazing podcast “Russian Roulette (https://www.csis.org/podcasts/russian-roulette) .”

** Reporting from Danger Zones
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On the new podcast episode of Bob Schieffer’s “About the News” posted today, CBS News foreign correspondent Holly Williams tells Bob and me about reporting from some of the world’s most dangerous places—watching the attempted coup in Turkey from the balcony of her home as fighter jets flew overhead, getting followed by authorities in China, rolling with the Peshmerga in Iraq, going undercover in Bangladesh, and other stories from the front lines of global conflict. Now posted on iTunes (https://itun.es/us/VYgadb.c) .

** In That Number
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** 2 million
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The number of people who have been deprived of running water in Aleppo as a consequence of ongoing combat. Source: NPR (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/09/489296670/2-million-residents-of-war-ravaged-aleppo-now-without-running-water) .

** Critical Quote
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** “The troubling reality is that, so far, Beijing has been prepared to run greater risks to achieve its strategic objectives in the South China Sea than the United States and its allies have to thwart it.”
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— CSIS senior adviser for Asia-Pacific Security Andrew Shearer on China’s construction of aircraft hangars in the South China Sea. Source: Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fighterplane-hangars-help-cement-beijings-control-over-south-china-sea-former-key-abbott-adviser-says-20160810-gqpgxd.html) .

** One to Watch
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(Photo Credit: Twitter.)

Jerry Seib (@GeraldFSeib (https://twitter.com/GeraldFSeib) ) is stepping down (http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/08/jerry-seib-to-step-down-as-wall-street-journal-dc-bureau-chief-226670) from his post as Washington bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal to serve as executive Washington editor and chief commentator. He will continue to write the Capital Journal column as well as commentary on US foreign policy and international relations.

** Optics
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(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images.)

Michael Phelps (l) of Baltimore (that’s right!) leads Chad le Clos of South Africa in the Men’s 200-meter butterfly final last night in Rio. Seconds later the most decorated Olympian of all time would win his 20th Gold Medal.

** Highly Recommended
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The
Washington Post’s Anna Fifield on Tokyo’s first female governor, Yuriko Koike (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/shes-a-renegade-conservative-now-shes-running-tokyo/2016/08/10/ad6e392a-5e6c-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html?tid=sm_tw) .

** CSIS Next Week
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Join CSIS and the US Naval Institute on Thursday, August 18, at 10:00 a.m. for a Maritime Security Dialogue (https://www.csis.org/events/future-naval-aviation) on the future of naval aviation, with Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker.

** This Town Tomorrow
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At 7:30 a.m., join Nextgov for “Mission Critical: An Update on Federal Cybersecurity (http://www.nextgov.com/feature/mission-critical/) ,” featuring Marianne Bailey, principal director and deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity at the Department of Defense.

** CSIS On Demand
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The
New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/world/americas/mexicos-carlos-slim-helu.html?ref=world) that one of Mexico’s most influential companies, América Móvil, is in steep decline. Jose Eduardo Calzada Rovirosa, Mexico’s minister of agriculture, joined CSIS’s Project on Prosperity and Development for “U.S.-Mexico Agricultural Trade Relations (https://www.csis.org/events/us-mexico-agricultural-trade-relations) ” in July.

** Sounds
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The latest from the Smart Women, Smart Power podcast (https://www.csis.org/podcasts/smart-women-smart-power-podcast) features Fatema Jafari of the National Endowment for Democracy. Jafari discusses her election to provincial council in Afghanistan and her efforts to get women involved in Afghan politics.

** I Like It Like That
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Meet Mayhem (http://www.defensetech.org/2016/08/10/meet-mayhem-the-pentagons-computer-virus-hunting-machine/) , the supercomputer that won a Pentagon contest to autonomously hunt computer viruses.

** Smiles
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“Down here the river meets the sea…” I love when Aaron Neville lends his golden voice to some of the greatest songs ever written—John Hiatt’s “Feels Like Rain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PqYrHSTgE4) ” is at the very top of my list.

** Feedback
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I always welcome and benefit from your feedback. Please drop me a line at [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

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The Evening CSIS is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed with the External Relations team: Colm Quinn, Brandon Schwartz, Jackie Ramsay, and James Dunton.

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